Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the industrialized world. There exists no specific and causal treatment for cancer and mortality from cancer is among the highest from all diseases. The most widely used treatments—chemotherapy and radiotherapy—do not distinguish between healthy tissue and cancer and are associated with severe side effects. Thus, there is a need for a selective treatment of cancer.
One of the key mechanisms that cancer cells use in order to expand and metastasize in the body involves enzymatic destruction of the surrounding connective tissue. Therapeutic approaches to control this process through specific drugs have not been successful and currently there are no means available to control cancer metastasis. Current treatment protocols with chemotherapy and radio-therapy focus on cancer cell destruction in the body, and they do not address metastasis. Moreover, these treatments are toxic, not specific and associated with severe side effects. Chemotherapy and radio-therapy carry a risk of the development of new cancers and through their destruction of connective tissue in the body can facilitate the invasion of cancer.
In order to grow and expand to other parts of the body, cancer cells degrade the extracellular matrix through various matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and plasmin, whose activities have been correlated with an aggressiveness of tumor growth. Rath and Pauling (1992) postulated that nutrients such as an amino acid, lysine and ascorbic acid can act as natural inhibitors of extracellular matrix proteolysis and as such they have the potential to modulate tumor growth and expansion. These nutrients can exercise their anti-tumor potential through several mechanisms, among them by inhibition of MMPs and by strengthening of the connective tissue surrounding cancer cells (tumor “encapsulating” effect).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,517 discloses a pharmaceutical composition for a different medical indication (acne treatment). The disclosed composition comprises an acne reduction component, at least one of burdock root yellow dock root, or a catechin-based composition; and a skin cell conditioning component comprising a transition metal. The disclosed composition is not shown to have any beneficial value in cancer treatment and/or prevention.
PCT WO 00/76492 discloses a nutrient formulation for disease reduction that contains a catechin compound. However, the bioavailability of catechin compounds has been shown to be small low (Chen L., Lee M. J., Yang C. S. Drug Metab. Dispos. 25: 1045–1050 (1997); Yang C. S., Chen L., Lee M. J., Balentine D. A., Kuo M. C., Schantz S. Cancer Epidemol. Biomark. Prev. 7: 351–35 (1998); Bell J. R., Donovan J. L., Wong R., Waterhouse H., German J. B., Walzem R. L., Kasim K. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 71:103–108 (2000); Sherry Chow H. H., Cai Y., Alberts D. S., Hakim I., Dorr R., Shahi F., Crowell J. A., Yang S. C., Hara H. Cancer Epidemol. Biomark. Prev. 10: 53–58 (2001)) and the PCT WO 00/76492 fails to disclose a means to increase the bioavailability as is required in cancer treatment and/or prevention.
Demeule et al. discloses that green tea catechins may have inhibitory effects on matrix metalloproteinase. There is no suggestion or teaching regarding how to use catechins in cancer treatment and/or prevention. Given the fact that the bioavailability of polyphenols in humans is extremely low, the low tissue concentration of catechins greatly reduces the therapeutic value of polyphenols including epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). There is a constant need in finding a better nutrient pharmaceutical composition containing polyphenols that is effective in the treatment of neoplastic diseases and other diseases including inflammatory diseases.
There is a need for safe and effective natural approaches that can be used to control the process of cancer expansion in the body. There is also a need for a preventive measure against cancers or benign tumors to develop in human and such measure could be applied to patients without the risk of treatment-related side effects. Nutrient pharmaceutical compositions have become popular, as the incidence of cancer in recent time increases. The requirement of such composition will continue and will likely increase.